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James Gavin Black was born at West Boldon, near Sunderland, not a very inspiring district for a boy who was destined to develop in after life a tremendous love for Nature in all her aspects. His father died when Gavin was only nine years old, but he was old enough to have imbibed some of his father’s love of sport and of an open air life. He cannot be said to have inherited his taste for Natural History, but to have attained to it as so many others have done before him through his fondness for fishing and shooting. I believe his first introduction to fishing was on the Tees when his family stayed for a short time at Cotherstone, they afterwards went to live at Carperby and there he began fly-fishing in earnest on the Yore, a river much less frequented then by fishermen than it now is; so keen did he become that he has told me that he has been known to run down to the river on the morning of the opening day. In time he acquired great skill in fly-fishing, as indeed he did at anything he seriously took up, but it was always trout fishing and not salmon fishing that appealed to him most. While at college he took to shooting, though he never became a really first class game-shot, he knew more about the habits of game-birds than most gamekeepers or shooting men. He came to Corchester Preparatory School as a master on leaving Cambridge in 1902, and it was there that he first began to take up the study of birds as a serious hobby. The rest of his life was spent at Corchester, with the exception of an interval at Cambridge and another when serving during the War, until his sudden and unexpected death in August, 1926, at the beginning of the summer vacation.

The inception of the original of this book was somewhat haphazard; J. G. B. had always looked forward to taking up the threads of his work at Corchester as soon as he was demobilised and he had no reason to think that there was anything the matter with his health likely to prevent him from doing so, but a medical examination by the Army authorities told another story, and he was warned that unless he took a complete rest from all work for two years the consequences might be very serious. So the early months of 1918 found him at Corchester with nothing to do but eat, sleep and read, generally to lead an aimless existence. One day my wife said to him, “Why don’t you write a book? A book about birds. Something to interest the Boys.” The idea took hold and henceforth he again had an object in life. The book was begun in February and by the end of April it was practically complete, a publisher was found and terms arranged, but it was not until July that it was put before the public. Its reception was somewhat mixed, of course all Corchester boys at once bought copies and a number of copies were bought by other Preparatory School boys, but to many people the title was unattractive, they jumped to the conclusion that it was a book to encourage the systematic robbing of birds’ nests by boys, instead of being what it is, a book to guide the love of birds’ nesting innate in most boys into humane channels.

I cannot give readers of this book a better idea of the character of the author than by quoting from an obituary notice which appeared in the School Magazine, “The Corcestrian.”

“It is rarely that one finds in one man so many and varied accomplishments. He never undertook anything unless he was prepared to do it as thoroughly as possible; he had no use for second-hand knowledge, he liked to find and think things out for himself, he was a fine classical scholar, he went to Cheltenham College with an Entrance Scholarship, and went on to Caius College, Cambridge, with a Classical Scholarship; he was a first class rifle shot and captained the Cheltenham College VIII. at Bisley; he was a first rate field ornithologist and in his book, “Birds Nesting,” he did his best to instil boys with some of his enthusiasm for birds and his wonderful skill in finding their nests. Botany was another of his hobbies, originally taken up with the object of giving boys another interest on their country rambles, and which later became an absorbing interest to him. He was also a good geologist and during his second period at Cambridge he selected this as the subject in which to take his Exam. and I have been told that had the University regulations allowed him to sit for Honours he would undoubtedly have obtained a first class. He was a keen fly-fisher and I believe this was the sport he loved most; he was never happier than when at the water side with a rod in his hand and it was a treat to see the skill with which he threw a fly over a rising trout. He was very fond of shooting, too, and for many years rented a small rough shooting in North Tyne, camping out on the moor often with two or three boys as companions; but both in fishing and shooting he cared more for overcoming difficulties—for catching fish when they were slow to rise, for outwitting birds when they were few and wild—than for heavy creels and big battues. He was an expert photographer and his photographic records of boys and events at Corchester have long been a unique feature of the life of the School. He was intensely musical and quite lately he devoted himself to introducing boys to some of the best music by means of the gramophone. He was one of the best and most painstaking Rugby Football coaches that any school could have, and a most patient and successful teacher of swimming.”

If this edition of “Birds Nesting” should be the means of inculcating a humane love of birds in any young people, it will be the most fitting tribute to his memory that his former pupils could have devised.

G. S. S.

MARCH, 1929.